Rob Vaughn Assesses Alabama Baseball's 2026 Weekend Rotation

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— The Alabama baseball pitching staff could not have fared much better in terms of the MLB Draft. 2025 weekend starters Zane Adams and Tyler Fay remained at school, and are the first two names up in next spring's weekend rotation.

The team held its first fall practice on Friday afternoon. Head coach Rob Vaughn evaluated the stable of available arms beforehand. Rotations change even after the season begins, but it's not a done deal with respect to which player will take the ball on Sundays behind Fay and Adams.

"There are so many names," Vaughn said Friday before practice. "Matt Heiberger showed us he's got the ability to start in the Cape [summer ball]. The secondary stuff's taken a massive jump. The breaking ball's way better. The change-up's way better."

Heiberger is a rising junior who's done good work out of the bullpen, struggling to stay healthy at times during his stint in college. Last season, he had a 3-1 record and 4.46 ERA in 25 appearances, none of which were starts. Since his freshman season, the stuff has been there.

He was not the only primary reliever referenced by Vaughn as a possible starter. Another was Austin Morris, who worked in 18 contests in the 2025 season. A fully healthy year for Morris (6.64 ERA in 2025) presents a big opportunity for progress, whether as a starter or as a bullpen piece.

The program's newcomers will be in the mix. Winthrop transfer Owen Sarna was named by Vaughn as a contender for a weekend spot; the Crimson Tide coach said Sarna has thrown "nothing but strikes." Freshmen Myles Upchurch and Luke Smyers? Those two are also possibilities.

"Kind of a Zane Adams-ish track, a little bit, with what he is, won't shock me," Vaughn said of the left-handed Smyers. "That's the beauty of it, is I do think there's options."

Previous weekend starters Bobby Alcock and Hagan Banks are back too, for one last season. Alcock took home SEC Pitcher of the Week honors for his performance at Texas A&M in March. Banks was briefly in the rotation in 2024 before an elbow injury ended his campaign. Banks was exclusively a reliever, playing in 17 games and posting a 3.72 ERA. In 11 games (10 starts), Alcock went 3-2 with a 6.03 ERA.

Vaughn further noted the addition of Ashton Crowther, who comes to the Crimson Tide by way of South Carolina, thereby bringing invaluable SEC experience with him. Experience is one thing that any successful program can't have enough of. SEC teams will not be short of it, in some form or fashion.

"There's a lot of options, and it's our job to kind of move guys around and put them in those situations this fall and kinda see what the best matchup is," Vaughn said. "We're gonna play winning baseball. Whatever we feel like gives us the best chance to win is what we're gonna run out there."